Why this ride
258 km from Brampton to Brampton, about 4 h 01 of riding. On the way it passes Wolsty South tower 13b, The English Lake District and back through Wolsty South tower 13b.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The vallum between the road to Garthside a and The English Lake District
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 258 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 01
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Wolsty South tower 13b → The English Lake District
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 61 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 68 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Brampton is a small red sandstone market town at the edge of the Pennines, and just north of it, where the land rises toward the Irthing valley, a stretch of the vallum runs across the fields near Garthside. The vallum, the great ditch and banks that ran south of Hadrian's Wall, is often clearer than the wall itself in this area, because the stone of the wall was carried off long ago to build farmhouses, churches and even a priory. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, and it is best seen in low light, when the earthworks cast long shadows.
Read the complete The vallum between the road to Garthside a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the road to Garthside a is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty South tower 13b.
2. Wolsty South tower 13b
Hadrian's Wall gets the fame, but the Roman frontier did not simply stop at Bowness-on-Solway. Beyond the end of the wall, a chain of milefortlets and towers continued down the Cumbrian coast, watching the Solway Firth for raiders from the north. Wolsty South, tower 13b, was one of them, a small stone watchtower near Silloth on the low, windy coast. There is little to see today, often just a mark in the ground, but the site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listed by UNESCO, and its position tells a story: from here, Roman soldiers looked across the water to the hills of Scotland.
Read the complete Wolsty South tower 13b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wolsty South tower 13b comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is The English Lake District.
3. The English Lake District
Wordsworth wandered lonely as a cloud round here, and anybody who has ridden the Lake District on a wet bank holiday will understand the appeal of being lonely. The English Lake District, listed by UNESCO in 2017 as a cultural landscape, is a compact knot of mountains, lakes and valleys in Cumbria, shaped by glaciers and then by centuries of sheep farming, slate quarrying and, from the late eighteenth century, by poets, painters and tourists who came looking for the sublime.
Read the complete The English Lake District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach The English Lake District. Next is back through Wolsty South tower 13b.
4. back through Wolsty South tower 13b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wolsty South tower 13b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wolsty South tower 13b, late in the day. Next is The vallum between the road to Garthside a.
5. The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The vallum between the road to Garthside a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The vallum between the road to Garthside a. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The vallum between the road to Garthside a to Wolsty South tower 13b
The vallum between the road to Garthside a → Wolsty South tower 13b is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty South tower 13b to The English Lake District
Wolsty South tower 13b → The English Lake District is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The English Lake District to back through Wolsty South tower 13b
The English Lake District → back through Wolsty South tower 13b is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty South tower 13b to The vallum between the road to Garthside a
back through Wolsty South tower 13b → The vallum between the road to Garthside a is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.